Russian and US warships converge on Arctic to build naval and air bases as melting ice leaves Cold War frontiers wide open
Analysts say the rival superpowers will also soon be battling it out to secure new naval bases at sites normally covered in ice
THE melting ice has led to military tensions hotting up in the Arctic – as Cold War bases are rushed out of retirement.
US and Russian forces are to converge on the region to secure naval strongholds at key sites normally cut of by ice.
The quick-off-the-mark Kremlin has already taken advantage of the thaw to ramp up its military footprint in the region.
Now US top brass are calling on Donald Trump to give them the billions needed to “up their game” at the top of the world.
Putin has unveiled an Arctic force of four combat units, 14 operational airfields, 16 deepwater ports, and 40 icebreakers.
The mighty ships are key for gaining the military upper hand in the Arctic – as they can punch through the shifting ice.
The US needs another six to cover responsibilities at both Poles, but they will cost at least a billion dollars to build.
Russia is also reopening and reinforcing its Cold War bases on the Kola peninsula in the far north-west of the country.
In the meantime, Canadian and US forces, along with other members of NATO, continue to train for cold weather conflict.
Norway is already beefing up its military presence in the Arctic as international tensions turn frostier, .
The news comes just months after NATO staged its biggest military exercise in the region in more than a decade.
British Army vehicles and troops travelled from Scotland to Norway to take part in the highly impressive war games.
They started with the UK leading a firefight against enemy forces played by Norwegian, German and Swedish troops.
The overall training exercise – Trident Juncture –involved 50,000 troops, 10,000 tanks and trucks as 250 aircraft.
And in the summer, the UK announced the deployment of 800 commandos to Norway and RAF Typhoons to Iceland.
President Trump’s military is also sending hundreds more marines to the Arctic region on a long-term rotational basis.
It has also threatened to send naval vessels through the newly-opened Arctic shipping lanes for the very first time.
Certainly America has got to up its game in the Arctic. There’s no doubt about that
former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis
In October, the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier and its fleet sailed to the Arctic Circle, the first such unit to do so since the Cold War.
The strike group practised cold-weather operations in the Norwegian Sea, an area where Russian submarines are known to operate.
“Certainly America has got to up its game in the Arctic. There’s no doubt about that,” said the then Defense Secretary Jim Mattis at the time.
“The reality is that we’re going to have to deal with the developing Arctic, and it is developing.”
And as the region is heating up twice as fast as the rest of the planet it will soon have plenty more access for warships.
By 2035, the Arctic is forecast to be free of ice during summer, which will even allow ships to sail across the North Pole.
And experts fear that can only lead to heightened military tensions.
“The reasons we are seeing more military activity is that countries are worried by the spectre of open water,” said Prof Klaus Dodds, of the University of London.
“The unique Arctic security architecture has shape and form that come from natural extremities.
“If the Arctic becomes just another ocean, this breaks down. It’s elemental.”
Meanwhile,a Russian supersonic Tu-22M3 military bomber has crashed in the Arctic killing three of its crew of four.
The aircraft broke up on impact with the main section bursting into a fireball in Murmansk.
